Seekers of Lore

Shattering of Faith

Hadrael of Mysallanin has developed an intriguing theory of historical nexuses. A nexus is a place of such importance that it attracts momentous events. When we consider the turning points of history, we usually imagine battles, kings, and other representations of physical power. This approach is understandable but incomplete. We should not neglect psychic or spiritual events, especially those regarding gods or spirits or moral imperatives? I will now examine a particular spiritual event that occurred on one of Hadrael’s nexuses: the Pearly Isle.

Long before the Redemption of Therolas and the Conjury of Illaster, the Pearly Isle was a powerful kingdom that worshipped the old gods. Then, as now, the gods no longer walked the land. However, many people did not understand this or refused to believe it. And when they were forced to accept the absence of the gods, what then? In what could they believe? This was the Shattering of Faith.

The Shattering of Faith was a spiritual hammer blow that finally forced the people of the Pearly Isle to abandon the comfort provided by the gods. Mere words cannot convey the trauma of those years. The kingdom descended into riots and lawlessness. Few primary sources survived the tumult.

The people of the Pearly Isle eventually sought new beliefs. They required the spiritual sustenance provided by faith. The search for faith explored many possibilities, one of which manifested in the growing power of the Jesophs and spirits. This tied the island to the Jesophs, and eventually culminated in another historical nexus: the Conjury of Illaster.